


The Best Present Possible

by One_Small_Writer



Category: Rent (2005), Rent - Larson
Genre: Christmas, F/M, Fluff, Hurt/Comfort, Light Angst, Reunions
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-21
Updated: 2020-12-21
Packaged: 2021-03-11 00:27:23
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,104
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28216197
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/One_Small_Writer/pseuds/One_Small_Writer
Summary: Roger and Mimi on the night of the most emotionally conflicting night either will ever experience. December 24th, 1990.
Relationships: Roger Davis/Mimi Marquez
Kudos: 3





	The Best Present Possible

**Author's Note:**

> I had to rewatch the end of Rent to write this and when I tell you I cried.  
> (21 days! Whoo!)

December 24th, 1990. A night of many emotions. Easily the saddest yet simultaneously one of the happiest nights of Roger’s life.

The night he was reunited with the love of his life, the night she died and the night she came back to him, back to them all.

His emotions were over the place. He was sad at the state she was in, how sick she was and how damn thin she’d become (Mimi had been a stick since he’d met her, but this was something else).

Guilty because he knew that half, if not more, of the reason she ran away in the first place, was because of him and his stupidity and anger.

Angry at the world for causing such an amazing, beautiful, angel person such grief and pain, taking her life away bit by bit through illness or drugs, her mental health chipping away in the process. Angry at himself for pushing her to that point where she felt the need to run.

Worried because she was still probably sick, because she needed to see a doctor desperately and despite being better than she had been, good enough that seeing a doctor could wait until the next day, it was still pretty urgent. Worried because when he put a plate of the limited food they had in front of her she refused it.

Though at the same time, he was happy. She was back by his side again. He kissed her again, he’d not once let her out of his arms since she was placed in front of him. He could look at her, see that she was there and alive.

He was content with her back by his side, some of his worries and troubles melting away just because she was there beside him, gripping his arms with bruising force as she herself experienced similar emotions to his, not wanting to leave his side ever again.

But most of all he was relieved. Relieved because she was back. They could stop the search, stop the sleepless nights wondering if she was dead or alive out there. Relieved that she was alive.

Late that night, once the documentary had been watched and everyone had hugged Mimi some more, though never taking her away from Roger, and once they (Joanne) had checked her over to the best of their abilities to make sure she wasn’t going to stop breathing in the middle of the night, they’d all gone to bed, needing the sleep after all that had happened. Roger and Mimi were laying side by side in Roger’s, now theirs in both their minds, bed, holding each other tight.

Mimi snuggled into him, nuzzling against his shoulder and inhaling his comforting scent for what must have been the thousandth time that night and Roger kissed her hair, pulling her in tighter. “I love you so much Mimi,” He whispered, trying to swallow the lump that had formed in his throat.

“I love you too Roger. So much.” Mimi’s voice cracked, and that’s all it took for tears to start streaming down Roger’s face. He grabbed her both of cheeks gently, stroking her skin with the pads of his thumb.

“You have no idea what you being here means to me Meems. We looked for you for months, I started to think that… I can’t even... Fuck, I love you. Please never leave me again,” Roger pleaded with her, staring deep into her eyes. He wasn’t used to being so vulnerable with someone, but after all he and Mimi had been through it felt as if it didn’t matter.

Mimi shook her head frantically. “Never again, I’m never leaving your side. I love you.” A sob broke through her words and her face crumpled totally. In an instant Roger pulled her back into his chest, cradling her and rocking her back and forth as he soothed her. All the emotions of the night and the past months were hitting her full force, and she just needed to ride it out before anything else happened. She’d been pent up for so long, but with Roger, she finally felt safe to let everything out.

Roger managed to calm her down and they lay in silence for a few minutes, holding each other tighter still and stroking each other’s skin until Mimi spoke up again. “I’m sorry for making such a mess of Christmas, I feel like I’ve ruined everything,” She said quietly, chewing on her lip as tears sprung in her eyes once again.

Roger’s eyes practically bulged out of his head, and he rushed to turn her into him, grabbing her cheeks again so he’d know she’d look at him. “Did you just say you’d ruin Christmas? Make a mess of things?”

Mimi shrugged, looking down before nodding slightly. “Well yeah, you guys were all going to watch Mark’s film and I just show up and die,” Both she and Roger winced, “On the table. I made what was supposed to be a happy night sad.”

Roger shook his head, his own tears springing forward once more. “Are you crazy? Mimi, baby, listen to me when I say this, and listen good. You coming back to me, no matter how you did, is better than anything I could have imagined. You laying here beside me, me being able to kiss you and hold you and just looking at you, makes this Christmas better than any other. You being alive is better than any present I could ever get. Tonight was never going to be a happy night because you weren’t here. You being here has made it a happy day, do you understand?”

Mimi nodded, a tear dripping onto the sheets beneath them, and leant forward to kiss him chastely, unable to convey her emotions with words. “I understand, but I’m still sorry.”

Roger sighed, knowing he probably wasn’t going to get through to her, and shifted them so he was holding her once again, her head on his shoulder as he stroked her hair with his free hand. “Don’t be. You’re the best Christmas present possible baby, one I never expected to come from today. Please don’t ever doubt that.”

“I love you, Rog,” Mimi simply sighed, snuggling closer and once again inhaling his scent.

“I love you too Meems. More than anything in this world,” He whispered back.

And as Roger and Mimi held each other close long into the night, forgoing sleep to just be with each other, they reasoned that as much as it wasn’t, it really was the best Christmas yet. And being back together? The best present possible.


End file.
